A Return to Post-Apocalyptic Road Rage

Tom Hardy in "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Between 1979 and 1985, director George Miller gave us an inventive vision of a world that descended deep into anarchy, all of which was chronicled in the “Mad Max” series.  These films told the story of a police officer, played by Mel Gibson, doing what he can to combat the dangers that crossed his path.

Now, 30 years later, Miller returns to the franchise with his gloriously crazy action-thriller, “Mad Max: Fury Road.”  In a film that’s absolutely intense and relentlessly fast-paced, Miller continues his series in a spectacularly bonkers fashion and has made what may be the best entry in the “Mad Max” series.

In the future, where a global catastrophe has left civilization in ruins, Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) lives his life in constant survival mode.  When he’s captured by a group known as the War Boys and brought to the citadel of their leader, Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played main villain Toecutter in the first “Mad Max” film), Max is locked up and forced to provide blood for an ill War Boy named Nux (Nicholas Hoult).  Soon after, citadel resident Furiosa (Charlize Theron) is charged with the task of driving a rig to collect some gasoline from the nearby Gas Town.  Immortan Joe soon realizes that she has actually led the escape of his Five Wives (Rosie-Huntington Whitely, Riley Keough, Zoë Kravitz, Abbey Lee, and Courtney Eaton), a group of women he uses for breeding.  When Max eventually meets up with Furiosa, he decides to help the group flee to a safe haven, while Immortan Joe sets out on a violent pursuit to get back his wives.

Similar to Gibson’s approach to the character (particularly in the second and third films), Tom Hardy portrays him as a battle-hardened, brooding loner who has been through the worst of humanity.  Although his character doesn’t have much of a personality, it works for the film because of how much suffering Max has experienced before the beginning of the film, reducing him to a man who doesn’t have anything left to lose.

Charlize Theron offers her role the sort of action-heroine strength that we saw from Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor in “Terminator 2: Judgement Day.”  She fiercely displays her character’s unflinching fearlessness and perseverance, but also shows a bit of motherliness as she commits herself to protecting the Five Wives.  With this, Theron’s performance is a prime example of how female roles in action films should be handled, and is something to be emulated in more movies like this in the future.

Hugh Keays-Byrne gives a very intimidating performance as the citadel’s relentless leader.  Keays-Byrne was memorable as the villain in the first film, but he is now given an antagonistic role that’s a huge step up from Toecutter.  With his deep, overlord voice, nefarious glare, and freaky mask, he’s a fitting adversary to our heroes in the film’s wasteland setting.

 Although the screenplay by Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris is light on an overall story, the film is compensated by how gorgeously done the chase sequences are.  Yes, I know “gorgeously” is a strange word to use when describing the action scenes of a “Mad Max” film, but once you experience this movie, you’ll see how positively stunning they are.  Despite the movie being mainly a series of elaborately choreographed chase sequences, there are still moments between these scenes that allow us to get to know a little bit about these characters.

Despite the 30-year gap between “Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome” and “Fury Road,” Miller clearly hasn’t lost any of his ability to stage explosive and beautifully structured action sequences, and he isn’t afraid to go big early on in the film.  Within the first third of the narrative, we’re given one of the most breathtakingly filmed chase scenes in quite some time, one that culminates with a sandstorm that brings you into its near-suffocating intensity.  Although that may be the most memorable sequence of the film, there is certainly aggressive competition to be had with the final chase, which is so wonderfully excessive with its vehicular chaos that you’ll be left exhausted in your seat from its visual, action-packed power.

While it can be a risky venture to revive a franchise from years ago, “Mad Max: Fury Road” succeeds and makes the most out of today’s filmmaking technology to expand the world of the series.  While you don’t have to see the other three movies first to understand what’s happening in “Fury Road,” you should consider giving them a view afterwards because you’ll get a sense of how much this franchise has evolved from its modest, low-budget beginnings.  

As far as summer movies go, you certainly couldn’t ask for a better cinematic ride than the one gifted to us from George Miller.

Final grade: A-

The Team Returns to Fight a New Evil

From left: Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey, Jr., and Mark Ruffalo in "Avengers: Age of Ultron"

Warning: This review contains a few minor spoilers.

Big things have happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and big things will continue to happen; it’s just the way it’s always been.  With every new film, our favorite superheroes battle evil, more characters are introduced, and major events shape what will come next.

After directing the first “Avengers” film three years ago, Joss Whedon returns to bring cinema’s famed team of superheroes back to the forefront of adventure.  In “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Whedon delves into his love of the Marvel Comics lore once again and delivers a satisfying sequel.

After fighting their way through the stronghold of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann), the Avengers, which include Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), manage to steal the mystical scepter of Thor’s adoptive brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston, though he doesn’t appear in this film).  Realizing the power that this item contains, Tony Stark (Iron Man’s alter ego) decides to use it to finish his “Ultron” defense program.  

Once Ultron (voiced by James Spader) awakens, he realizes that, because of all of the destruction that humans have done to each other throughout history, the only way to save the world is if humanity is extinct.  Discovering that Ultron and his army will stop at nothing to achieve their plans, the Avengers assemble once again for battle.

As with the previous Avengers film, the six main cast members have the connection that you would come to expect from a superhero team this big.  Each Avenger possesses their own wildly different persona, all of which mix into a role-call of a very fun and heroic team-up. 

James Spader offers memorable voice work as the film’s main threat.  He’s definitely better than most of the MCU’s antagonists, and he falls within the ranks of Loki and the Winter Soldier.  With Ultron’s character, Spader makes him equal parts sinister and darkly comical, a villain who’s filled with personality.

One of the most notable accomplishments with Whedon’s screenplay is how he gives the Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye considerably more material to work with.  When you look back at the first “Avengers” film, it definitely seemed like Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America were the big three in the group.  In this sequel, the other three members are given their chance to break out with a blossoming romance between the Hulk and Black Widow, as well as the discovery that Hawkeye now has a family.

The screenplay by Whedon doesn’t waste anytime in setting up the story; he just places the audience right into the propulsive action, and it’s because of this that you’ll definitely want to catch up any MCU movies you might not have seen yet, just so it’s easier to follow the story.  He begins the film with the Avengers’ raid on Baron von Strucker and his army, and then the story keeps building from there.  Although the film follows some of the same story beats as the first, it does enough world-building to compensate.

Speaking of world-building, there’s a factor in the film that has its positive and negative sides, and it’s the fact that it offers so much in terms of other Marvel stories, those from previous films and those that are coming soon.  The upside is that we’re getting tastes of what we can expect in other films as the MCU continues to expand as it goes from movie to movie.  The negative is that it all seems cluttered at times, and the MCU has the potential to get more crowded as it continues to introduce more and more characters as Phase Three begins next year.  Either the MCU will have to start letting some characters go, or it will really have to form a strategy on how to handle so much interconnected material because, if it isn’t careful, everything will get bogged down by all of the new additions.

As a director, Whedon expresses the same amount of enthusiasm and knowledge for these characters that he displayed with the first “Avengers” film, and he stages some all-out thrilling action set-pieces, particularly the exhilarating opening scene and the epic fight between Iron Man and the Hulk.  Whedon has done much to bring the two biggest chapters of the MCU to life, and his dedication to this mythology is clearly seen.

The Avengers will be back together in May 2018 and May 2019 for the two-part “Avengers: Infinity War,” but Anthony and Joe Russo will replace Whedon as directors.  The Russos have helmed “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” which is one of the MCU’s best films, and will direct May 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War,” a storyline that is hinted in Whedon’s film.  Although Whedon will be missed, the Russos will surely make him proud when they bring the heroes back for their next battle.

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” is the penultimate chapter in Phase Two of the MCU, with “Ant-Man” capping it off this July.  Until then, this sequel will surely appease your hunger for knowing where the Avengers are now and where they will go next.

Final grade: B+